Episode 1111 - 10 Chefs Compete
The eleventh episode of Season 11 of Hell’s Kitchen aired on Fox, on May 13, 2013, airing as a double feature alongside the twelfth episode. On that episode, one chef lost their temper after losing another challenge, a private service featuring military took place, one chef purposely sabotaged their competition, and the oldest chef in the show’s history was eliminated. Elimination During the episode recap, Amanda received the coat hanging and portrait burning sequence for the first time since her elimination. Continuing from the previous episode, Ramsay felt that there was a downward spiral trend from Cyndi, but when the latter begged Ramsay to take her word that she was not on a downward spiral, she was sent back in line. Then, Ramsay asked the blue team to rate Zach's performance, with Michael and Anthony claiming it was similar to a 2 while Jon and Ray claiming it was a 3. Ramsay noted it as fucking generous before giving Zach 10 seconds to explain what the competition meant to him. Zach claimed that it meant the world to him and that it was his passion, but Ramsay claimed he did not feel it. After, Barret stated that working for Ramsay was the reason he started cooking and that he would never give up. In the end, however, Ramsay eliminated Barret, for his fourth poor performance, consistent mistakes and significant downfall. During his exit interview, Barret claimed although he was unhappy with the decision, he could not be that upset as he did everything he could but just couldn't learn fast enough for Ramsay. Ramsay gave no comment on Barret’s elimination, and he did not receive the coat hanging and portrait burning sequence. Intro After Barret left, Ramsay warned the remaining 10 chefs to step up as his patience was running low, before dismissing them. While heading back to the dorms, Zach expressed his anger towards his teammates for nominating him stating they crossed him and now it was just "Team Zach" rather than the blue team. For the rest of the night Zach ignored his teammates despite Michael and Jon attempting to make conversation to him but Ray frankly did not give a fuck as the former warned them he was going for their heads. Meanwhile Susan felt she was breaking out in pimples due to the stress of the competition, and Nedra used her grandmother’s method of putting an egg to the former’s face. Team challenge The following morning, both teams headed downstairs to find Chef Ramsay next to a giant curtain, as the latter informed them that his next head chef should excel in taste and presentation, adding that the remaining chefs should pull a dish right from thin air. He then reveals Jean-Philippe in a vacuum air chamber with millions of papers flying around, with Ray teasing Jean-Philippe’s accent. Ramsay revealed that each slip of paper has ingredients, gold being proteins and white being vegetables, which each team will use in the Presentation challenge. One team member will collect the ingredients before 45 minutes are given to each chef to come up with a dish that is both tasty and beautifully presented. Susan was called forward to collect the red team's ingredients who, despite being confident initially, got frazzled as she was collecting her ingredients, with Nedra commenting that she herself would be better suited for collecting the ingredients. Anthony was called forward for the blue team, hoping to do well but unfortunately while collecting the tickets, his glasses fell off which Jon questioned if he could even see. After, Ramsay revealed that each dish must consist of a maximum of 5 ingredients before beginning the challenge. As the challenge began, Ray announced that his protein would be lobster as everywhere in Boston consisted of a bake stuffed lobster, stating it was like having water with their dinner. Jon announced he had a duck breast and leg, Zach had a New York striploin, Anthony had halibut while Michael used quail. In the red kitchen, Mary announced that she would be doing a flank steak with wasabi but would slice to earn points on presentation, while Cyndi opted for sea bass, briefly fell over, and quickly recovered. In the Blue Kitchen, despite Ramsay warning that if the dish was not stunning it wouldn't be tasted, Ray felt confident, stating his lobster was big, vibrant and bold, but Jon was unimpressed, stating that it was not the Party Portions Challenge. Near the end of the challenge, Susan called beauty on a plate simple, opted not to slice her meat, and was confident that her dish was both cooked great and looked beautiful. Eventually, both teams got their dishes cooked and plated on time. Jennifer Garcia from People’s Magazine came in as a guest judge, and Ramsay revealed that the two will only be judging three dishes from each team based on strong presentations. Susan confidently felt her dish was visually stunning and it would be picked, and then, Ramsay added on that the chef with the best dish from the winning team would be featured in People’s Magazine, which Cyndi called globally huge. As Garcia and Ramsay looked over the red team’s dishes, they questioned Susan’s decision to keep her meat whole instead of slicing it as it looked big, and questioned Nedra’s decision to stuff her salmon despite the latter claiming that she liked it. In the end, Ja'Nel, Mary, and Cyndi’s dishes were the chosen representatives for the red team. For the blue team, Anthony, Zach, and Jon’s dishes were the chosen representatives for the blue team, while Michael’s quail dish did not look appetizing, and Ray’s lobster dish looked like something from a Science fiction show, much to his disappointment. As the tasting round began, Ramsay announced that each dish would be given a score of 50 between himself and Garcia, with a maximum total of 100, and the team with the most point won the challenge. Jon was up first, and presented his confit leg and pan seared duck breast. It was praised for a nailed seasoning, and Jon scored a total of 92 points. For Ja'Nel, her basil marinated grilled prawns with black garlic vinaigrette was deemed delicious, but scored 89 points in total, upsetting her as she wanted an A instead of a B. With the score 92-89 for the blue team, Anthony presented his pan seared halibut crusted with coriander and black peppercorn, and while it was deemed good, it was not great. So, Anthony scored 82 in total, and he complained how much that sucked. After, Cyndi’s fennel crusted sea bass with honey cherry vinaigrette was praised for a surprisingly good taste, and she scored 90 points in total, making the score 179-174 for the red team. On the final round, Zach had his fingers crossed as he wanted to be in People’s Magazine, but while his New York striploin with red pepper coulis and garlicy shallots was praised for having a good taste, Garcia would have preferred a more medium rare cook, giving him 83 points in total. Finally, Mary presented her grilled flank steak dusted with wasabi and lemon grass, and while Garcia felt the cook of the steak missed the mark, it was praised for tasting wonderful, making Cyndi confident Mary could win it for the women. After, Mary scored a total of 90 points, the red team won 269-257, and Ja'Nel was shocked they won yet again. After Ramsay pointed out to Jon the sad irony that despite having the best dish of the day, the blue team still lost, before deciding between Cyndi and Mary’s dish to be featured as they each scored 90 each. As Garcia liked simpler presentation and taste, she picked Mary’s dish, making her shocked and happy. Then, Ramsay reminded the blue team that so far, they only won one challenge out of nine, and a frustrated Jon berated his team as he was close to having his dish being featured on People’s Magazine, before commenting that it was the third great dish he presented in a row in a losing team and expressing frustration that he was the only person that got it. Reward The red team was rewarded with a photo shoot for Star watch, and Ramsay announced a surprise for them at the dorms. As the red team went back up, they found Vitamix blenders waiting for them, which Ja'Nel called the shit as she wanted one for a long time. During the reward, Kristen Maxwell announced she was giving them a very stunning celebrity makeover, and Susan was besides herself in excitement as she was ready to wear anything other than chef clothing. Then, Cyndi was excited to see what she would look like as she never wore make up before, and was impressed over her makeover. Then, Ramsay came in, shocking Nedra as it meant he was joining them. Punishment The blue team was punished with cleaning the dorms, and during the punishment, Jon found q-tips in the shower, and Ray disgustingly found cookie crumbs in one of the red team’s beds, before concluding that it was Nedra’s along with Anthony. Later, Sous Chef James called the dorms, and told Anthony to have Jon and Zach send the women champagne per Ramsay’s orders. That frustrated Zach as the cleaning was already fucked up, but to take champagne to the women could not be anymore embarrassing. However, he was soon proven wrong as Zach and Jon were provided with a tricycle each to ride to the reward, but the latter decided to go with it as the weather was nice, and that he was out of the dorms for a bit. When Jon and Zach came to the location, the former could not be salty towards the women as they did a good job, but also felt jealous as it should have been him. Then, Zach gave them kudos as they were going to need it. Before service Later that day at 6:02PM, the red team came back from their reward, and Anthony complimented their makeover as Susan felt refreshed and ready for more relaxation. Suddenly, Ramsay called the dorms, and told Michael to bring everybody down to his office. As both teams raced to Ramsay’s office, the women struggled as they were still in high heels, and a stunned Ja'Nel had no idea what was going on. There, Ramsay announced that he closed Hell’s Kitchen for a private dinner service that featured two tables of twelve. The guests were members of the USA army that were back from service, and Ray felt touched as he had boat loads of experience with the marines. As the red team began changing into their chef jackets, Nedra felt nervous as they were only given a five second warning, and during prep, Mary felt that her make up was running off her face, as were the other women. In the blue kitchen, Ray offered his assistance to Zach, but the latter did not respond, pissing Anthony off as there was no reason to drag ass by now. However, Zach knew that the men and women who protected his country deserved to be here, but still called himself on “Team Zach” as he continued to ignore his teammates. After prep, Ramsay had both teams lined up, reminded them that they were serving the soldiers that night, and announced he was assigning one chef from each team to run a course, before asking them to be served in sync. Dinner service As the service began, the guests arrived before Ramsay had both teams lined up at the pass, and introduced the soldiers that dined that night. As the chefs saw the honored guests walk in, Mary explained that the military had a special place in her heart as both her father and brother served in the marines at different points. That night’s menu featured a six-course menu, and each team was responsible for one of the two tables. Jon and Ja'Nel led the butter poached spot prawns first, and the former said he could be ready in eight and a half minutes. However, Ja'Nel did not respond to Ramsay’s comment until he repeated himself three times, and the latter warned her that she was not even directing her teammates. While admitting to being frazzled, Ja'Nel refused to quit, and in the blue kitchen, Jon wanted to prove to Ramsay he could lead both a course and his team. However, Jon felt Ray was being his bumbling self again as the latter was not doing much to help, and when it came time to plate, Ramsay rejected a move Ray was about to commit, asking the latter where his brain was. While Jon was able to get his course out first, Ja'Nel was not far behind in sending her course out as well. On the second course, Ray and Nedra led the lobster linguine course, and both agreed on seven minutes. Nedra poured more water into the pot for the pasta, but Cyndi was dismayed when she saw it was cool water as they needed a rolling boil to cook the pasta, and called it the biggest rookie mistake she seen in her cooking career. In the blue kitchen, Ray was not directing his team to the dismay of Ramsay, and Jon wanted the former to step it up. In the red kitchen, the water was not boiling fast enough, forcing Cyndi to cover it with another pot to speed it up, but when Ramsay discovered the situation, he angrily demanded foil to cover the pot so it would boil in thirty seconds, even though Ja'Nel called themselves pathetic for Ramsay to show them how to boil pasta. Then, Nedra bitterly admitted that she fucked up big time on boiling water, and in the blue kitchen, Ray decided to plate his course by himself for some reason. That frustrated Ramsay as there were four other chefs that could help him, and Jon accused Ray of being on another planet. Despite Sous Chef James reminding Ray to use his team, the latter wanted to make sure there was an even amount of lobster. Despite Zach trying to help Ray out, Ramsay and Ray noticed that Zach’s plate had little pasta and no lobster, frustrating Ray before asking if he had to stand behind Zach from now on as Ramsay showed the blue team another plate of inconsistent pasta. Fed up, Ray kicked Zach off the plating, and the latter told him to eat shit and die in response. Despite Ramsay being frustrated by the difficulty on a simple course, Nedra caught up and sent her course out, with Ray not far behind, even though Michael claimed that a lunch lady could perform better than Ray, before apologizing to said lunch ladies. However, Ray argued that it was hard to go faster than he could, and then, Jean-Philippe came back with a plate that had raw pasta. While the men tried to make a fresh refire on the fly, Mary and Michael began working on the third course, the mushroom risotto. When Susan asked if they were using the mushroom stock, Ramsay snarkily said they were, and asked if she was stupid as well as blonde. However, Susan argued that she was not naturally blonde, she was only reminding Mary, and even reminded Ramsay that he was blonde as well. Both Mary and Michael led their course well enough to get their course out on time, but Ray was struggling on the refire from the second course as Jean-Philippe called it embarrassing. Ray asked Zach to finish off the lobster in the butter, but the latter, in retaliation from what happened earlier, decided to sabotage Ray by cooking the lobster in cold sauce. When the refire was sent up, Ramsay rejected the cold lobster, and while Zach was happy his plan worked, Ray was pissed at the former for sabotaging him. On the fourth course, Anthony and Cyndi worked on the loup de mer, and both got their course out at the same time. Then, Ray finally got the third attempt accepted, which Anthony sarcastically noticed it two course late. On the fifth course, Zach and Susan led the New York striploin course, but the latter was scared as they had problems with steaks recently, and hoped they could get them right at this stage of the competition. Unfortunately, they were still raw, forcing Susan to ask the blue team for more time, and felt like an asshole. When Ramsay accused Susan of forcing the blue team to overcook their steaks for her team, she argued against that as Nedra told Susan to get it together. Deciding to plate now, Susan nervously sliced one, only to find it was cooked perfectly, but Ramsay berated her for not dressing the plate and called her a disgrace. In the blue kitchen, Jon asked Zach where the sauce was, but the latter did not respond as Ramsay accused him of switching off. Then, Ramsay noticed the steaks not seasoned like the red teams, but while Zach argued that they did, Ramsay accused him of lying. Despite that, both teams got the final entrée course out at the same time, and as they were clearing down, Zach felt he did a good job that night and was not concerned about the criticism. Post-mortem When both teams were lined up, Ramsay commented the irony that despite serving dinner to the military, he had to battle through a rough night he felt everybody would shine on, and accused the chefs of doing their country an injustice. Both teams were named joint losers, and they were asked to nominate one each. During deliberation, Anthony said it should have been a walk in the park that night, but they messed up again, and called it hard to pick one chef. However, Jon remarked that neither himself, Anthony, nor Michael fucked up on their courses, leaving Ray and Zach as their two choices. Ray argued that he did a better job than Zach and that he led a team more than often, and refused to be nominated again. However, Zach believed that the only reason he would be nominate was if he was a good chef and not a bad one, but even though Jon reminded him that they were basing it off that night, Zach disagreed, leaving Jon wishing for the latter to get the fuck out. Meanwhile, Cyndi felt it was a choice between Susan and Nedra , but the latter refused to go up even though Cyndi called the pasta mistake an amateur move. However, Nedra argued that Susan was more of a weak link than herself, and Mary reminded Susan about the off-steak timings. While Susan felt she was a huge contribution to the red team, nobody voiced their support, frustrating her as she refused to go home as she was going to fight. Elimination After Mary told Ramsay that it was a tossup between the linguine and steak course, she announced Nedra as the red team’s nominee. When Ramsay asked Susan if she was better than Nedra, she answered that she had the finesse and passion, which Nedra lacked. Then, Jon announced Ray as the blue team’s nominee, but admitted that the latter and Zach were very close in the nomination process. When Ramsay asked Ray if he was better than Zach, he said that he kicked the latter off due to the inconsistent plating, and that Zach purposely sent him cold lobster on the refire. So, Ramsay decided to call up Zach along with the two nominees to the front, and during their pleas, Nedra claimed to come a long way, admitted to her rookie move, and felt she finished strong. Then, Ramsay asked Zach how he would rate his performance on a scale to 10, and the latter said a 7, which Ramsay disagreed. Finally, Ray felt he was getting stronger and more comfortable, and felt he was more honorable than Zach. In the end, Ramsay decided to send Nedra back in line, but warned her if she did not give him the service of a lifetime, she was history. After a tough decision, Ray was eliminated for his quiet leadership and not showing his full experience, but before leaving, Ramsay admitted his respect for coming to compete. During his exit interview, Ray called that night a disappointment, but knew he was leaving with his integrity, and called his run a hell of a time despite being the oldest chef to compete in the show’s history. After Ray left, Ramsay warned them that he had something in store for them that will test them more than ever. While being dismissed, Anthony was sad to see Ray go, but knew it was a step in the right direction for the blue team, and Nedra was pissed that Susan took the easy way out to get rid of her. Ramsay's comment: "Ray's age was not the issue, it was his cooking. And I was not getting any younger waiting for him to improve." Category:Episodes Category:Season 11